Bunny Teeth

Sandy has two teeth on the top.


And two teeth on the bottom.


At Bill's work picnic on July 24th she got a lot of comments about her cute "bunny teeth."

Her bunny teeth won't last for long, though, because yesterday I noticed that THREE new teeth had popped through. She now has four teeth on top and three on the bottom.

One of Sandy's favorite things is to sit in chairs. It's actually the process of getting in and getting out BY HERSELF that she likes.

Krantz Reunion

We had a reunion tonight for Bill's mother's side of the family. It was a lot of fun to see everyone, and Bill was able to get a picture of all who were able to attend.

Bill's maternal grandfather, Orville Krantz, passed away when Bill was very young. Bill's brother and mom have been working hard on a book about Orville's life. They were hoping to have it done for the reunion, but it was a big project so they are still finishing it up. I am very excited to see the finished product!

There was a playground there with a tall, metal slide. Bill decided to teach Sandy how to slide down it. He'd start her at the top and I'd catch her at the bottom. Then he decided to put her on her tummy (feet pointing down). She liked that a lot better because she could control her speed. After a while, she decided she wanted to do it herself. She would climb up the slide (not the stairs, the slide) and then let go and slide to the bottom. It was so funny to watch - although also a bit scary and Bill or I were always right there in case we needed to save her (which we didn't). Julie happened to have her video camera (yeah, Julie!!) so we were able to get a video of Sandy climbing up the slide and then sliding back down. I'll come back and post it when I get the video from Julie.

Happy Pioneer Day!

We started out the day by riding our bikes downtown for the parade.



Bill & I were volunteer ham radio operators. So, we stood at the corner of South Temple and 200 East and radioed in for pooper scoopers as necessary. A glamorous job, I know, but we do get a great view of the parade and it is fun to hear the back chatter of what is going on in the parade.

Sandy enjoyed the parade, and kept clapping as the floats passed. The parade was during her morning nap, though, and so she eventually succumbed to sleep and spent the second half of the parade asleep in the bike trailer.

We went home for lunch and Sandy's afternoon nap. Then we headed to Bill's work to watch the Butlerville Parade. Here's a picture of Sandy walking as we watched the parade.

The Butlerville parade was much smaller, but all the floats threw candy (not allowed in the main parade from this morning). If I were a kid, I think I'd prefer the smaller parade with the candy.

Here's a picture of Sandy on the floor of Bill's office.

Sunday Pictures

My Father-in-Law

I'm thinking about and praying for my father-in-law today - and have been for most of the week. Here's what's been going on.

Tuesday morning he was up at Scout Camp at Scofield Reservoir when he experienced tremendous chest pains. Another gentleman there had recently had a heart attack and knew they needed to get him to the hospital (first miracle). The camp first aid kit included oxygen that they were able to give him for the drive (another miracle). Then, they made the decision to go to the ER at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center (Provo) instead of the slightly closer hospital in Price (another miracle because of the greater amount of medical technology/care in Provo).

They did an angiogram and they found that the arteries were only 50 percent blocked - so not enough blockage for a heart attack and certainly not enough to cause the chest pains. They did notice that the blood flow in the heart was slower than it should have been. Thinking the capillaries to the arteries might have blockage causing this, they continued giving him blood thinners and decided to just watch and see. I got an email from a friend in the Czech Republic asking me to put a name on the temple prayer roll for her. I called and put Doug's name on as well. (another miracle because I don't think I would have thought to do that otherwise since the status was wait and see)

About 5:30 p.m. Bill, Sandy, and I went to the hospital. Bill was able to give his dad a blessing with the assistance of his brother-in-law. It was a comforting blessing and Doug was promised that his doctors would be able to find the problem and he would be able to heal. Doug was still experiencing a great amount of pain and chills. While we were there, the doctor decided to order a CT scan. Concerned about Doug's pain, the doctor ordered the CT scan to make sure there wasn't a blood clot in his lung (another miracle because without the CT scan they wouldn't have found out what was wrong - and faith-inspiring that the dr didn't order the scan until after the blessing). We waited for the scan and wanted to wait for the results, but as Sandy started nearing her bedtime she started melting down and so we decided to leave.

On the way home we got a call that the CT scan results had come back and Doug's aorta was torn (I later found out this is called an acute type a dissection of the aorta, is extremely rare, and is often fatal because it is treated like a heart attack) and would require immediate surgery. As we continued our drive home, we helped make phone calls to notify family members. Bill has a brother serving a mission in Tennessee and we called his mission president. Bill has another brother living in Atlanta and we called him as well.

Bill dropped Sandy & I off, went to help a friend with his basement (he said the physical work would be a good distraction), and then returned to the hospital. Doug went into open heart surgery at 9 p.m. Bill stayed at the hospital waiting for news; his mom and many of his siblings were there as well.

Doug came out of surgery at 3 a.m. and they moved him to the ICU by 4 a.m. He was able to wake up enough to respond to his name and respond to simple directions like "Can you move your right arm?" He had trouble breathing on his own, though, so he spent all day on a ventilator.

Now he's still in the ICU but vitals look good. He is off the ventilator but still wearing a full face oxygen mask. If you want updates, there is a website: www.caringbridge.org/visit/dougbuhler

My Little Helper

Here is Sandy "helping" load the dishwasher.

Book Club

My sister-in-law, Julie, had a great idea on Sunday that we pick a book each month and all read it. Then we could discuss at the monthly family dinner.



I think it's a great idea and I'm excited to read the first book: The Candy Shop Wars by Brandon Mull. I found an online reading guide.

Happy Birthday, Kelsie...and Gretel!

It's my sister Kelsie's birthday today and she now gets to share her birthday. Our niece, Gretel Ann Bair, was born today at 5:41 a.m. Happy Birthday, Kelsie and Gretel! Congratulations Sam & Jessica!

Sandy's Dress and Birthday Dinner

Sandy wore an adorable dress last July that we got from my friend Caroline. I found the same dress in an 18-month size so Sandy wore it this July, too.

We celebrated Heather's birthday yesterday. I made her cake - it's a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

We also celebrated Jake's birthday yesterday.

Happy Independence Day!

We went to the annual Buhler breakfast at Bill's uncle's house. One of the traditions is that he buries change in sand and all the kids get to dig for coins. Sandy had a lot of fun digging in the sand with her dad's help!

Lagoon

We went to our Stake Lagoon day tonight. We saw a musical show, rode the train and the carousel, and got our pictures taken. I think Sandy had fun.

Fun Maternity Shirts

Look at these cute maternity shirts my talented sister-in-law designed.

Future Soccer Player

I create life...what's your superpower?

Decision

Okay, so I am stressing over making a decision and I think it might help me think it through to write it out.

I went to see my endocrinologist today. I was planning to start trying for Baby #2, but I wanted to double-check with him first to see if I needed any follow-up stuff for my thyroid cancer that would interfere with that.

I had follicular thyroid cancer that was diagnosed in December 2005. I was treated with radioactive iodine in February 2006 and had a follow-up whole body scan in August 2006. The scan also used radioactive iodine, and although the dosage was lower, it was the same basic process and involved the same precautions afterward. At that time, the radiologist said I would need follow-up scans at least every 5 years. Some online sites I've found recommend getting them every year.

My endocrinologist monitors my blood and the thyroid hormones that I take each morning. In the past he has told me that he wouldn't insist on a whole body scan as long as my lab work all looks good. Today I asked him about a whole body scan and discussed my plans to try for Baby #2. He said, sure let's go ahead and do a full body scan before Baby #2. We have to wait until I am completely through breastfeeding to schedule it. He's waiting to get my lab work back from today, but past lab work has been good and he said the scan is a precaution and he's pretty confident they won't find anything. So, assuming the lab work from today looks good I think I could talk him into delaying the whole body scan until after Baby #2.

So the way I see it, here are the advantages to doing the scan now:

*Peace of mind. I understand there is a 30 percent chance of thyroid cancer recurrence and, frankly, I don't trust my odds. I've also been reading online and I keep reading stories of people who had all the same treatments I did and then found out the cancer had metastasized to their lungs, etc. My understanding is that it is usually still very treatable if it does metastasize, but still it's always better to catch it sooner than later.

*Fewer kids to impact. No matter when I do this it is going to be very inconvenient. Last time I did a body scan, I lived in the basement for 3 days so I wasn't exposing anyone else to radiation. That's going to be more difficult with Sandy and will probably only get more difficult the more kids we have.

Here are the advantages of waiting to do the scan:

*Family planning. Okay, so I really would like to have another baby and if we do the scan that pushes it out by however long it takes me to wean Sandy + however long it takes me to get in for the scan + 6 month waiting period because of risk to fetus of the radiation in my system.

*Lower radiation. The radioactive iodine has a risk of causing other types of cancer. The risk is fairly small, but each dose increases the risk. The radiation also affects my eggs. They recommend waiting 6 months to a year before getting pregnant, but every dose of radiation increases risks of birth defects.

We've been praying about having a second baby and so far I haven't really felt like I've gotten an answer one way or the other. I do feel quite a bit of anxiety about the possibility of the cancer returning, but I keep finding articles about the psychological impacts on thyroid cancer patients that make me think I'm just overreacting.